There are lies, damned lies, and statistics. The numbers from round 15 give you another side of a fascinating weekend of football.

It was a fascinating game at nib Stadium, with Perth enjoying the better opportunities but leaving the door open for a Sydney comeback. Glory had more than double shots on goal but were denied by offside decisions, the woodwork and some excellent work by the increasingly impressive Sydney keeper Vedran Janjetovic.

Sydney, in contrast, managed just three shots on target and scored two of them. Add this to making fewer effective challenges to their hosts and less than half the number of crosses, it seems Frank Farina-s side were either lucky or Perth were profligate upfront and lax at the back - take your pick.

Without Gui Finkler, Victory lacked some of their usual fluency on the final third but they withstood a confident Phoenix in the first-half and carved out a number of decent chances as the game went on.

Phoenix did go close on a number of occasions but without a regulation Jeremy Brockie stunner, Ricki Herbert-s side paid the price for their lack of goalscoring support.

Phoenix also had to work hard to disrupt Victory passing game, making more than double the number of tackles, whilst making a great deal more crosses. But those balls into the box count for nothing if you can-t get on the end of them, as Flores did with Rojas-s ball.

Are Brisbane trying to get back to old ways or learning new ones? It-s hard to say; they dominated the stats against Melbourne Heart, with more possession and a much greater number of passes, shots and crosses.

The Heart, on the other hand, seemed extremely lucky to come away with three points, wilfully ceding possession to hit the visitors on the break. It hardly made for an entertaining game - until Roar got their act together in the final 15 minutes - but it worked. It was a win without confidence for Melbourne, who clearly still have a long way to go under John Aloisi.

The game of the weekend as two of the most disciplined and tactically astute teams went head-to-head. Again, the Wanderers impressed but they were tellingly finished off by a clinical Mariners side.

A quick look at the stats shows just how close the sides were; there-s hardly anything to pick between any of the key indicators - but the Mariners kept the pressure on their hosts by playing attacking football and working hard to win the ball back, just as any champion team should.

But the Wanderers can still be proud of how they stood up to the best team in the league. It-s surprising that Tony Popovic-s side are 10 points behind Central Coast - then you remember they-ve only been around for a few months.

*We chose not to look at Newcastle v Adelaide as the teams were so closely matched, no outcomes could be drawn from the statistics.